Erebus
by TheFireStar97
Summary: 1 Year after the reconstruction of Spherus Magna, the very clear signal of a beacon is discovered far into vast space. A team is trained, led by Tahu, to go on the journey to investigate the source of the beacon, hoping they would find the Great Beings. In 1,005AGC they leave to find their makers, a task which proves harder and more dangerous than they ever could have imagined...


**Author's Note:**

 **Erebus is a Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery novel written by TheFireStar97. It is set in the canon BIONICLE Generation 1 storyline: When a signal is discovered that could possibly lead to a residence of the Great Beings, a select crew of Spherus Magna inhabitants go on a long journey through space to meet their makers.**

 **This novel is the second entry in TheFireStar97's BIONICLE G1 continuation trilogy. The trilogy begins withthe story _Red Star_ and continues with this novel and a still unknown third entry. **

**Erebus carries various important themes and messages. Therefore the author asks of you to think about what you've just read. It is recommended that you read _Red Star_ first before reading this story, but that is up to you.  
**

 **Full Synopsis:**

 ** _1 Year after the death of Teridax and the reconstruction of Spherus Magna, the very clear signal of a beacon is discovered far into vast space. Toa Tahu, Spherus Magna's leader, orders the construction of a vessel capable of traveling through space. For 3 years a team is trained to go on the journey through the galaxy to investigate the source of the beacon, hoping they would find the Great Beings, who Tahu has been so desperately searching for. In 1,005 AGC the vessel and its crew leave Spherus Magna behind to go find their makers, a task which proves to be harder and more dangerous than they ever could have imagined..._**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 -** **Thou hast Made Me as Clay...**_

The stars. So beautiful, elegant. Yet so distant and deadly. Space. Nothing, yet everything. In this vast ocean, a small white dot could be seen, if one looked carefully enough. Like a bacteria it was speeding towards its distant destination. If one looked even closer the dot became a large ship, yet small compared to the dark and lifeless ocean it was travelling in.

All one could see was the past, not the present nor the future. The past. There was no stopping it, it had already happened. The white dot made its way further through the void, avoiding any obstacles like other dots, asteroids that had strayed from their paths, floating lonely amongst the dead.

Like a bacteria the ship moved yet one could also see something different. It was like a seed, ready to impregnate its distant destination. It was transport. The new beginning. Slowly it gained closer and closer, slowly the ship flew further and further into the nothingness.

Inside the ship all the windows were shuttered, allowing no light to peer through. The inside was dead and cold filled with artificial light. Little lights flickered, machinery was at work, doing what it was designed for, like everything else.

The light, the machinery were not the only things that were artificial inside the ship. While every living being was sleeping dormant, an android roamed the empty halls and rooms. Alone he walked, alone he checked the systems, alone he fixed problems, alone… And alone he pondered about things, philosophy mostly. The android was the most advanced artificial creation to be ever made by the other creations. The creations of the Great Beings. Beings who were observing, patient, hiding in darkness and plain sight. The android would never admit that he had second thoughts about the mission, he was sure that they would decommission him after that. No. No turning back now.

Days. It had been days. Months. It had been months. Years, it had been years. Yet they didn't seem to get any closer. Perhaps some miscalculations were made the android suggested to himself. Errors. For he couldn't make any. His system was error proof, unlike the organic system the Great Beings installed in his creators. The circle of life. Evolution. What a beautiful thing. The pinnacle of evolution, that's what he was.

Alone he walked. Alone he observed. He observed the beauty of creation. For this ship was masterfully built. Its large, high yet sleek design fascinated him.

The synthetic being slowly walked towards a control panel. He opened it and checked the file logs. Putting on some of his favorite music, the android scrolled to the bottom of the logs, opening a file that interested him. He loved listening to music. It made him think about natural beauty. Something he didn't possess.

"The trick is not minding that it hurts, clever you," the synthetic said to himself, "You are a jester in a cold world of fools, my friend. You are not a puppet, you are the puppeteer. To the strings of music you make them all dance. Clever you, clever you, you are more than a fool."

"Entry log 09. Today is day nine. The ninth day. Nine days it has been since launch. Nine long days. Today we've found some wreckage floating in space. Located around the shattering epicenter of the Red Star. We… How do I put this? We found something. A body. We don't know who or what it is but all we could conclude was that it was not alive.

After discovery and examination of the body we've put it in a cryochamber. To stop deterioration. Further examination is needed to determine the origins and quite possibly the identity of this frozen carcass.

In other news, the crew is doing fine, there have been no missteps as of yet. The ship is running on optimal efficiency, no troubling signs. As of this moment everything seems to be A-Okay. The mission is still a go and we are progressing according to plan although we shall arrive at the source a calculated three hours later. This is due the find of the body near the Red Star.

In thirty-one days we are going in hibernation. I repeat thirty-one days. The transmission of messages is permitted till one year after launch, I repeat, one year after launch. Spherus Magna this is Commander Toa Tahu, out."

The file ended. Only the music played. The android scrolled through the files, humming to his favorite piece. The dark and haunting yet beautiful sounds echoing through the whole ship, ghastly though it was the android only saw the beauty. People often don't see the beauty even when it's right in front of them. He won't make the same mistakes. Though mistakes had to be made at some point. The only thing that kept the evolution of beings intact was one thing, mistake. Mistake was the cause of evolution. But how can his system make mistakes, for he was error-proof? No mistakes are made by thought, even the most perfect of systems had faults, mistakes made by the ones born from them.

He scrolled through the received messages. Received messages from Spherus Magna, for it had been a long time since launch. It had been so long. So many messages, difficult to make a choice. Choice is something that is done by will of one's being. One's own mind. Without choice, there is no future, without the future there would have never been a present and without the present, no past would have ever been written or occurred.

The audio file opened. A female's voice was heard. The synthetic being knew who this was. She was one of them.

"Tahu it's me, Gali. We haven't heard back from you, is everything alright? Something's happened. I don't know how to tell you this, but, well…"

The android listened to the file. How intriguing. This was sent after the crew entered their long and painless sleep. He didn't know what she meant. What was the meaning of this? In his head the android could picture her intentions. Static took over. Conclusion: Not Able to Read – Corrupted File – Purge From Memory. The android pressed a couple of buttons, deleting the file, yet storing it in an encrypted log. The music stopped. There was no sound.

The android opened one of his books and began to read. Reading was something he enjoyed, as much as he did having conversation. From these things he could learn more than whatever was programmed in his mind. Books contain knowledge. And knowledge is the key to everything. Without knowledge he wouldn't be here, without it perhaps the Universe didn't exist either. Puzzling questions and thoughts, yet so enjoyable to watch. In his mind, he could watch every memory, every thought, every little thing he had heard. It flashed in front of him like pictures.

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."

The android smiled. Such beautiful and elegant writing. So masterful. Full of meaning. Full of knowledge. Full of power. Like creation, almost lifelike. Almost. For life, as he knows it, has less meaning than this sentence. But what meaning does life entail? Does it have meaning? Or is it just another magic trick? A play. Entertainment to some, a nightmare has come. No more running, no more hiding. The Beast is coming. The Beast is coming.

A silent alarm snapped the android from his thoughts and informed him he should check the Hibernation Chamber. Just a routine check. Every day. Every 36 hours. Check, leave, repeat. Check, leave, repeat.

The android walked through the long hallway, admiring the beautiful design of the interior. It reminded him of a palace. The hallway was long, dimly lit to save energy. It was high, long pillars stretched above, holding the ceiling in place. Two doors above eachother, two chambers, one above, one below. The pattern repeated itself throughout the entirety of the hall. From one side to the other.

The artificial being took the fifteenth top doorway on his left. He climbed the stairs and entered the dark room. No light was needed for him, only the statistics of the chamber.

He checked the crew's vitals. Nothing out of the ordinary. Next, brain functions. Everyone seemed okay. Dream away. Except one. The android looked at the nametag on the Hibernation Coffin. Tahu. The mission leader, the commander. His brain functions had elevated, perspiration levels as well. Heart rate was spiking a bit. Calculate conclusion. Conclusion: Nightmare. Dreams were uncommon during hibernation, yet they could still occur. Nightmares. Fascinating material.

The android touched the screen and dragged the "Sopor-Liquid" dose up a bit. Tahu's vitals returned to normal hibernation capacity.

"Sleep. Sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream. Dreams of grandeur and glory not of darkness or chaos," the android whispered. He exited the chamber and made his way to the Map Chamber. By the simple turn of a switch, the room was activated.

"State your request, please," a robotic sounding voice echoed through the room.

"Distance and estimated years until arrival at destination, please," the android replied.

A map showing the ships current location and the destination appeared in front of the android. The computer was calculating the distance and approximate number of years, months, weeks, days and hours it took to get there.

"Distance to destination: 25.26 Lightyears. Estimated time to destination: Eleven years, zero months, six weeks, six days and six hours with current speed of J.O Boosters."

"That is a long time, long time indeed," the android said to himself, shutting down the main systems of the room.

Eleven years was a long time, even for an android. He was so advanced that he was able to perceive time like normal beings. And sleep or 'Rest Mode' was not an option. Everything had to be looked after, monitored. One misstep and the mission was over.

He sat back in his recharge chair, labeled 'K.O.L.H.I.E.' and checked the engine capacity. All systems normal, no signs of failure, no signs of fuel leakage. Everything looked stable.

'K.O.L.H.I.E.' or simply called Kolhie, brought up the camera files of the ship and opened the live images of the front cameras. Space. A vast ocean of stars, nebula and darkness. This ship, this hull, the only thing protecting the ones inside from the total deadly nothingness outside.

The artificial automated piloting system was working well. There had been no damage for the three years they had already travelled, no missteps, no troubling signs, nothing. But like any imperfect system, as this was, failure was inevitable. Something had to go wrong someday, Kolhie was just waiting till it finally happened. But a lot can and cannot happen in eleven years. And eleven years they still had. Eleven long and lonely years. Yet a lot can happen in the vastness of undiscovered space, and there's no one there to save them. Just the crew and him, if they were even the slightest bit incapable of repairing what's been broken, the mission and all their lives would be lost. Just floating out there like all the rest of the Universe. Floating in empty space. Without purpose. No one to care for, no one that cares. Lost. Lost in the void.

Kolhie examined the footage in front of him. Nothing out of the ordinary it seemed. An alarm flashed on the board in front of the android. Illuminating his face.

ERROR: Power failure in Main Power Grid!

As quickly as he could the android left his power-station. He ran through the empty hallway all the way to the back. The power grid. The doors opened revealing a massive, wet and darkly illuminated room. Kolhie felt his metallic skin getting wet, soaking in the coolant water, but he didn't mind.

He checked the control box in front of him. The white box revealed power loss at the third generator. The gigantic silver pillars towered over the white and gold android, they were still working, still moving, still breathing. Kolhie checked the third generator. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find any sign of failure.

Drip, drip, drip. Like an ocean it washed at his feet. Kolhie saw a beach. It was dark, a full yet unknown moon hanging in the sky, watching him. He turned around and saw two figures approaching him.

He didn't recognize them. Who were they? And what was he doing here? He checked his database, he should still be inside the power grid, and yet he wasn't. Yet he was here, on this strange beach in this strange world. The beings walked closer towards him. They reached out their hand and beckoned the android to follow them.

Kolhie looked at his feet. Coolant ran between them. He quickly scanned the hull of the generator's coolant tank and found the hole. The android detached his hand, revealing an array of tools. He selected the blow torch and welded the hole shut. He checked for any more cracks. None were found. This was strange, strange indeed. There were no signs of cracks, just the hole, as if someone punctured the hull of the tank with a weapon of sorts. But such a bizarre thing was impossible. Every crewmember was in hibernation. They can't just wake up. Was someone on the ship? Or something?

Kolhie turned to check on the coolant levels when something caught his vision. A metal spike. The android picked it up with utmost grace and examined it. It fit the measurements perfectly. Who was in here with him? Or was he imagining things?

When he woke up for the very first time after his long creation, Kolhie knew so much, yet he also knew so little. He knew how he was made, yet he wasn't sure how his brain functioned. Dazbog never informed his creation of its inner functioning. He was like that, clever enough to keep it a secret, a mystery. Yet Dazbog was also clever enough to entrust the android with running the ship for years. It was him that convinced Tahu to take the android with them, otherwise Kolhie wouldn't even be there.

Yet in the four years since his activation Kolhie never experienced any signs of visions or imaginations. He placed the weapon on the belt of his flight suit and finally checked the coolant levels. Everything was still working at normal capacity, only a little bit of coolant had leaked. Yes, Kolhie knew that they needed the coolant and even the little amount was still much. He accessed the generators inner computer and asked the estimated time the system still had left with the current level of coolant.

Estimated Numbers: 28 years – 0 months – 0 weeks – 9 days – 33 hours

Kolhie knew what this meant. There wasn't enough coolant left in the tank for the return journey. He would have to inform the Mission Commander and Captain of the situation, that meant waking them up. Luckily, the ship had a reserve tank. But still, using reserves normally points to failure. The first fault in the system had occurred. Kolhie logged this in his database. The first fault had occurred. But then again, how could this weapon penetrate such hard materials? Kolhie reached out to grab the spike from his belt but it had disappeared. The android looked around. There was no sign of it. He let it slide, he probably dropped it and it fell in the coolant lake below.

The android made his way out of the warm and damp room and returned to the Hibernation Chamber. On his way there he noticed wet footprints leading to one of the cabinets. Kolhie walked as slowly, calmly and silently as he could. The light was on inside the cabinet, normally the lights were off.

Kolhie entered the cabinet to find the missions commander Tahu, the Toa of Fire and only Toa Nuva present on this mission, sitting there, confused. He was wet and looked exhausted. The Toa was still shaking, barely able to hold his Mask of Shielding in his hands.

"Sir? Are you alright? How was your hibernation?" the android asked politely, his voice not showing any signs that something had happened.

"No. Terrible. I feel like death, smell like it too," Tahu responded, the sound of bitterness resonating in his voice.

"Sir, this was the first time you've been in hibernation for over a four weeks. It is only natural that you may experience some discomfort. I would suggest to perhaps take a shower. Wash off the Hibernation-Liquid. Drink some water, I'm certain you'd feel better."

"Where's the rest of the crew?" the Toa of Fire asked, confused, puzzled.

"They aren't awake sir. You're the only one. There was a crack in one of the coolant tanks. As is protocol you are the one to be awakened from hibernation in an alarming situation. But no need to worry, the crack is sealed. Though one alarming matter has come out of this, I'm afraid. The estimated time of the coolant left in the tank of Generator Three has been narrowed down to 28 years. That is not enough for the return journey. Of course this is only the case if the beacon is located on a planet, sir. Otherwise there's still enough left to make it back to Spherus Magna," Kolhie explained to his commander.

The Toa of Fire looked sick. He turned towards the white and golden android. "Are you skeptical about this, K.O.L.H.I.E. About my decisions, my authority?"

"Sir, the chances of us finding a planet at the beacon's location are very low. This was a mission based on trust, not proof. I hope you understand that. For all we know there is no beacon at all. Maybe it was just a ray of radiation, or an error in the receiver's system. You can never know for sure."

"I wasn't told you were able to have second feelings about the mission, or any other emotions for that matter," Tahu expressed himself angrily. He let out a rather loud grunt, trying to get free from his anger. Anger had always been his problem, and it was not something this mission needed right now. The one thing it needed from him was guidance, someone to trust, someone to look up to, someone to help them get through this rather difficult time.

It hadn't been easy. It was never easy to have to say goodbye to your friends, your people, everyone that looked up to you, everyone you saved. It was not easy, nor should it be.

"I don't sir. I can't feel emotions as you do. But I can mimic them, to gain trust, to be able to comfort emotional beings. I wonder, why didn't you people give me the emotions you so gracefully and quite desperately cling to? If I may ask of course, sir."

"I don't know. I don't know, Kolhie. Maybe because we aren't ready to create a new life, a life superior to ours? I don't know. So, the breach has been fixed? Any other problems while I was in hibernation?"

"The breach has been fixed, sir. No other problems have occurred during your period of sleep," the synthetic being responded, his soft and calm voice silently echoing in the empty vessel.

"How long has it been since the start of hibernation?" Tahu asked groggily, still dazed by the hibernation stasis.

"Three years, sir. The central 'mind' has calculated eleven years, zero months, six weeks, six days and six hours left till arrival at the beacon. It may be best if you would return to hibernation. We still have a rather long journey ahead of us. Wouldn't want you to lose your strength before the adventure begins."

"No, we wouldn't want that now, would we. Alright. You will clean up this mess I left behind right?" The Toa of fire pointed at the wet marks on the floor and his armor scattered across the room.

The android smiled slightly, "Of course sir. Cleaning up your mess. That is what I'm here for."

Tahu returned to his Hibernation-Coffin. The Toa of Fire stepped into the white, milky liquid and started to lie down on his back. The liquid of the coffin enveloped his body. Kolhie took the coffin's breathing mask and placed it over Tahu's maskless face.

"Have a good journey, sir."

The android sealed the coffin, allowing the liquid to cover Tahu completely. A hissing sound floated in the air. The coffin was sealed, hibernation had begun.

Kolhie checked Tahu's vitals. Everything looked good on the monitor. No signs of stress. Tahu's heartbeat and brain activity lowered, as it should. His breathing slowed down. Less breaths, less breaths. The commander was in full hibernation. The journey continued. The long journey. The lone journey.

"Have a good journey indeed."

The dark room was filled with light as the door opened. The dark form of a man appeared, blocking one's full view of the light outside.

"Can I come in?"

The female being inside of the room sighed. She didn't know what to do. "Come on in."

"Look, Gali. I'm-I'm sorry. I really am but I-"

The Toa of Water looked at him. How could he be so one sided? So arrogant? So ignorant? "You have to do this. I – Look. Three of our brothers are missing, this killer is still out there and all you want to do is just leave us all behind to go one a journey through space? Do you have any idea how that sounds? Do you have any idea what everyone else has to say about that? What they think about that? Everyone is looking at you to solve this and to get our brothers home yet all you've been doing these past years is training and planning to go on possibly the most dangerous trip a Toa has ever experienced. You just neglect everyone and everything who's opposed to said plans. How can you even be sure that the beacon is real and that it belongs to the Great Beings?!"

Tahu sighed. He looked at his feet. He pondered. "We got to have faith."

Gali scoffed loudly. This was unbelievable. Had her brother lost his mind? "Faith? You place your faith in beings that abandoned us, and you leave your own people behind to suffer and deal with all the consequences. What kind of a leader are you?"

"I'm sorry Gali. I really am. Sometimes, to achieve something good, you have to do the opposite. The unthinkable. The unthinkable being me leaving all of you behind. It's not because I want to, it's not because I want to escape. We-We have finally found something that will lead us to the Great Beings. To our creators. We have been searching for them for so long and now that we can finally discover the answers to our questions you don't want us to go? This is all I ever wanted. You know that and you have to understand. There is no way we're ever going to find Kopaka or Pohatu or Lewa ever again. They've been missing for years. Years Gali! They're dead. They're dead! Don't you see? There's no way we can help them anymore. All there is now, is finding out what Mata Nui wanted us to."

Gali looked at her brother, concerned. "And what is that exactly? Mata Nui would never want us to leave our friends behind. You're lost Tahu! Lost in your own head! Think straight for a moment, just a tiny moment! Don't you see what's going on here?"

"Gali, I-I'm sorry. But I have to do this. Spherus Magna will be fine without me. There's no more danger. Besides, they have you. You Gali. You were always better than me, a better leader," Tahu smiled slightly, "You always had the better temper and your heart in the right place. You are the peacemaker. You'll be fine without me, I have faith in that."

Gali looked down. She slowly walked towards her fellow Toa and hugged him. Her arms around his neck. Tahu wrapped his arms around her as well. Then they just stood there in the light, surrounded by darkness.

Tahu's face was enveloped in darkness, Gali's was illuminated by the light peering through the doorway.

"Everything will be alright," Tahu whispered.

"I don't want you to leave," The Toa of Water whispered, sadness filling her voice and face.

"I know, I know. But I have to. You are Spherus Magna's leader now."

Tahu loosened his embrace and took Gali's hand. He reached out and put something in her hand, closing it.

"What is this?"

"A reminder," Tahu explained, slightly smiling, "Until we meet again sister. Spherus Magna is in your hands now, I'm counting on you."

The white dot, the white bacteria, made its way further through space. Gracefully it moved through the ocean, nebula towering behind it. Creating a beautiful painting only the gods could witness.

The all seeing eye.

Silence. Beautiful silence. Nothing to be said, nothing to be heard. Silence.

Like music the white dot moved, moved through space. Gaining and gaining. Closer and closer. Time. Time never stops.

Stars flickered, stars burned brightly, stars were born, stars died. The circle of life. The white dot moved to its destination, so far far away. Time never stops.

Electronics whirred, little red, blue and yellow lights flickered. A screen lit up.

Estimated Time Until Destination: 0 Years – 0 Months – 1 Week - 0 Days - 0 Hours – 1 Minute

The minute changed to zero. The dark chamber was illuminated with white light. The coffins opened, the dead arose.

The white liquid in every coffin poured away, revealing nine dormant figures in nine coffins, creating the sight of a black flower to a white backdrop.

The figures rose from the coffins they were in, in an asynchronous order the black flower grew larger. Soft groans could be heard. The crew had arisen from deep slumber.

Some of them stepped out of the black coffins, others stayed at rest, still dazed by the long and tiring slumber.

The android, Kolhie, slowly made his way to the Hibernation Chamber. The crew had awoken from their dreams and brought back to hard reality. The countdown to the adventure had begun.

"Where in the name of the Great Beings are we? Oh yeah. More importantly, when are we?"

Kolhie, now being in the chamber helped some of the crew out of their Hibernation-Coffins. He checked their vitals, making sure their bodies weren't shutting down after such a long, unnatural sleep.

"We are one week away from reaching the beacon, sir," the synthetic answered the still distraught Glatorian Cian, "You've all been asleep for almost fifteen years. I would suggest taking it easy, and drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated. We still have a long way to go, wouldn't want any of you getting hurt before we've even come to the possible dangers. And before any of you forget, or I for that matter, please take a shower to wash off. You'll feel much better after that."

"We understand Kolhie, you can go back to your station for now," Dazbog, Kolhie's creator, informed the android. He knew the rest of the crew were a bit uncomfortable with the synthetic hanging around them, especially now that they weren't protected by all their armor.

The android quietly made his way out of the chamber, without saying a word.

Darkness. Lights flickered. Light. Bright, white light. The walls were decorated with all sorts of apparatus. Machines. The 'Dinner Table', as it was called, lit up, giving off a blue hue.

After everyone onboard, excluding the android, washed off and got dressed, they made their way to the now brightly lit room. They all took a seat at the table.

"Drink plenty of fluids. Please, drink plenty of fluids," a robotic voice echoed as Cian passed a 'Fluid Machine'. The Glatorian had volunteered to go on this mission. He didn't have to, no one was pressured into this at all in fact. The Fire Glatorian had been a good friend of Ackar. Since the older Glatorian and former champion was staying behind on Spherus Magna, Cian had decided he would go with Tahu and his crew.

He didn't possess any particular skillset, but then again, the Seltian Gerack, didn't have any skillset either. They were both good at fighting, that was for sure. Tahu was using them as muscle for the mission of course. Why else would they be here? They had no other uses than that. Cian didn't understand any of this science babbling that Dazbog, Magnara, Hylena and Tiara were discussing about all the time. What he did know was how to protect someone from imminent danger, turns out that appeared to be useful according to Tahu. After all, the Toa of Fire could use someone like him and Gerack on a mission that could be more dangerous than anyone had anticipated. Who knew what lay ahead?

Gerack, the Seltian brawler and former criminal grabbed a cup and began drinking his fluids. The machine told him to, so he did. Machines were never wrong. That's what everyone he knew on Stelt always used to say to him anyway.

The Steltian signed up for this job for one reason, to go on an adventure. He had never been on a real adventure before. Sure he has had his share of criminal nightly activities that one could perceive as adventures but that was nothing compared to this. This, this was something else. Something new, unexpected, unpredictable, something scary. Yes, sure it scared him a little to know that with the slightest misstep they could all be dead but that was part of the fun for him. That is exactly why he signed on.

Everyone, after a while, came to sit at the table. The crew of nine replenished their fluids in order to stay hydrated. It had been long. It had been cold. It had been dark. The void of one's mind while in a state of paralysis, trying to wake up only to find that it proved useless. Hibernation is what they call it. Some would say it is like death, others would say it is just as being asleep. Asleep, adrift in endless dreams of grandiose victories and triumph, or dreams of nightmarish proportions, hunting you, chasing you, your worst fears coming, appearing to confront you. What a wonderful creation.

"So the countdown begins, one week. One more week of this. This… isolation. This nothingness."

"Well, you signed on for this 'journey', Konles. You knew what was in store," the Toa of Water, Tiara, said casually, as if she had no idea it could be insulting to the Ko-Matoran Physicist.

"Look, I signed on to discover something hidden in outer space, not a trip in a tin can. Something you were probably looking forward to I imagine," the Ko-Matoran fired back. He had no trouble with the fact that she was a Toa and he was a mere Matoran. He had no trouble at all. On this mission, they were all equals, something Tiara usually seemed to forget. After all, it was one of the Matoran on this mission that created the masterful android known as Kolhie. That wasn't a Toa, it was a Matoran. Someone people usually overlook. Yet he had built the finest creation of all and no one even gave him the credit for it. What a world they lived in, what a world indeed.

"Oh, our little icy friend has some fire in him I see," the Toa of Water blatantly expressed.

"Alright, let's stop the fights people. Tone it all a bit down. We're here to do a job, not get at eachothers throats," Tahu firmly stated. The Toa of Fire had no time for these stupid arguments. Sure, they could take a few moments off, not focusing on the task at hand, but after these moments pass, the work must continue. That's the only thing that mattered. The mission. All that ever mattered. The truth.

"What a way to ruin the fun, Tahu," Tiara mumbled, disappointed and irritated.

"This isn't a game, Tiara. Now I know that you're young. You've only been a Toa for a short period of conscious time, but I didn't bring you on this mission to cause distress amongst the others. The only reason you're here is because you were an Astrologer back on Metru Nui and Turaga Nokama recommended you. If it weren't for that, I'd better have you off on Spherus Magna, protecting the people there from our unknown murderer, picking people off one by one."

"If that's the case, why did you even leave our planet? Wanna answer that, Tahu?! Did you just leave them all to die there while you go on a journey far, far away from the dangers? Is that what this is?" Tiara shouted. Tahu wasn't startled by this as the others were, well except for Dazbog. The Matoran was watching the discussion, intrigued by the points being made. Tahu clearly understood what she was saying. She was partially right, but also so wrong about so much.

"The people of Spherus Magna are in good hands, Tiara. There are Toa and Glatorian far more qualified to be leaders than me. Trust me, they'll be fine. And as for this mission, do you know how long my team and I have searched for the Great Beings? We searched for months but never found any clue to their whereabouts. Now we have. It is Mata Nui's will to find them. They are our creators, and we deserve answers. Is that clear? Now can we please stop arguing? The real mission hasn't even started and the team is already about to fall apart," The Toa of Fire stood up from his seat, towering over the seated Toa of Water, clearly expressing his dominance over her.

"Where's Kolhie?" Magnara, the Vortixx scientist, creator of Gaea, captain of this ship, asked.

Dazbog, the rather old, soft spoken Ko-Matoran scientist and creator of Kolhie, turned towards Magnara, "He is currently watching over the ship as he's been doing for the past, almost fifteen years now. Besides, you people are uncomfortable having my creation around, aren't you? Or am I determining this wrong?"

"Well, I can't speak for the rest of the crew, but I'm not scared of him. I think he's rather fascinating," Magnara responded. His long hand stretching out and grabbing the cup of fluids. He brought the cup to his mouth and took a large sip.

"All y'all talkin' about this robot like he's a person. He's not you know. He's just another damn machine. Nothin' else," Proxx, the team's Geologist and current Toa of Stone, spoke up, leaning comfortable in his chair.

Dazbog was not amused by the Toa of Stone's reasoning and tone of voice. The Matoran wasn't very fond of people speaking ill of someone behind their backs, albeit him being an android this time. He had put much thought and time into creating Kolhie. He was like a fellow person, another living being. He wasn't just another robot, he was the future. "Let me just tell you this, Proxx. We ourselves are also just 'machines'. We are merely creations by beings far powerful and more knowledgeable than us. Just let me remind you of that fact before you speak ill about another being ever again."

"Whatever you say, old-timer," Proxx nonchalantly whispered to himself. He wasn't here to discuss androids and machines, said things didn't interest him. His interest was in biological materials and rocks. All he wanted from this mission was to discover another world with another ecosystem than Spherus Magna or the one inside of the Mata Nui robot. That was all he wanted to see with his own eyes. Something new, something beautiful and elegant. Something that would change it all. That is what he wanted.

"Now that I've come to know you all a bit better do you know what my conclusion is?" Magnara, the Vortixx pilot, asked, "You're all a bunch of a-holes who have nothing better to do than bicker and whine."

"You're one to talk tall-guy," Proxx shot at the Vortixx, thinking the much taller being was no match for him, "All you're doing right now is whine about other people. You know when you're in a situation such as this, the best you can do is whine your way out of it so everything seems a little lighter."

"Giving the current circumstances of us being in a hostile and extremely dangerous unknown environment, I think it's best to stand together and become a real team, able to face challenges as they come along," Cian's wise and true words spawned silence in the group.

"Now that I think of it, Magnara, Dazbog, there's something I would like to discuss with you in private. You got a moment?"

"Sure," Magnara responded. Dazbog responded as well with, "Of course."

The three made their way out of the chamber into the long hallway of the Gaea ship.

"Let's go in here, so that the others won't disturb us," Tahu pointed towards the Map-Room. He opened the door and closed it again after all three of them were inside.

"So, what is this matter you would like to discuss with us, Tahu?" Dazbog asked softly, his calm voice resonating in the large room.

"It's about Kolhie," the Toa of Fire began, "Eleven years ago, I woke up from hibernation. Apparently there had been a breach in one of the coolant tanks of the engines. Kolhie informed me that the breach had been fixed, yet he only reported this to me and not to you, Magnara. As is protocol, he should also report to you. Could it be that he has a fault in his system?"

"Well, if he failed to follow protocol I think it is safe to presume that a glitch in his system has occurred. Although I imagine you assessed the damage to the coolant tank yourself then instead of Magnara?" Dazbog asked the concerned Toa of Fire rather calmly.

"No, I didn't. I was distraught and Kolhie put me back into hibernation before I could even get dressed," Tahu replied. He felt a bit guilty. He should've checked the breach himself, or woken up Magnara. Instead he went back to sleep as if nothing had happened. For all they knew, the ship could've lost all its fuel from the damaged tank or they all could have died due to an explosion.

"Well then the fault seems to be with you both," Dazbog responded to Tahu's confession, "But let's just check if any more damage has occurred, shall we? Computer. Bring up fuel data of the past twelve years, please."

"Fuel Data Analysis: Fuel Leakage Detected. Leakage Analysis: Small Amount. Estimated Number On Date Of Error: 28 years – 0 months – 0 weeks – 9 days – 33 hours. Further Leakage Not Detected," the robotic voice of the ship's central computer echoed through the Map-Chamber.

"Alright, no damage after reparation of the breach. Kolhie still did his job. Albeit there was a small error, nothing major has come out of it. I'll try to fix the bug in his code, see what exactly occurred that day. I'll leave you two to the rest of the conversation then, good day gentlemen," Dazbog left the room. He hadn't even seemed the least bit worried about the android. Strange thoughts went through Tahu's mind, but most of all it was still that feeling of guilt that triumphed over all.

"Tahu, look man, it doesn't matter alright. You were just distraught due to the prolonged exposure to the hibernation fluids. This situation could've happened to all of us. Don't think too much of it. From now on, I'm piloting my ship," Magnara smiled, he placed a hand on Tahu's shoulder. The Vortixx left the room as well, from now on it was less likely that such incidents would occur once more. Manuel piloting was so much better. And now everyone was awake to ensure full control of troubling situations.

Only one week to go. One long week yet short compared to the distance they've traveled. What was awaiting them out there in the darkness at the location of the beacon. Tahu could only hope it was something related to what he was willing to find.

On Spherus Magna, when the signal was discovered, it was examined by the best astrologers and scientists the world knew. They deciphered it as a message by the Great Beings. Tahu, by that time, had been searching for months on the planet itself. But Spherus Magna was big, not everything was uncovered, yet tired the Toa of Fire had become of all the searching and the stress.

Not only that, but Kopaka and Pohatu had also been missing for a month by that time as well as an explosion in space, that was uncovered as the destruction of the Red Star, had disturbed a lot of people.

The mysterious deaths of some of the Matoran Universe's most powerful beings only added to the sheer feeling of terror. Who was this killer? And who was next on his kill list? An answer to that question they never found. The killings just stopped after a while, with no definitive answers in sight.

Tahu had become tired of leading the people whilst not only some of his friends were missing but while he was in the middle of a search for answers. Answers he wanted to know. The news of this beacon was like a beam of light peeking through the darkness.

So the construction of this vessel began, the team was assembled and trained. Three years it had taken to get prepared for this mission and then they finally left, four years after Teridax' death and the reconstruction of the paradise known as Spherus Magna.

And now they are here. One month away. Yet more knowledge no one had gained. What lay ahead was still a total mystery. Maybe Kolhie was right, maybe they'll find nothing. Twenty-four years of time wasted on a pointless journey that led to nothing. Tahu hoped Kolhie was wrong. He hoped he was wrong.

Kolhie sat down on the work bench in the Repair-Chamber of the ship. This was Dazbog's room. A room no one was allowed to enter, filled with innovative works of technology, secret though they were. Everyone on the ship knew that. The Matoran's work was important here and disturbing him wouldn't further whatever he was working on. Besides all that, the Ko-Matoran wasn't that fond of having people who know little of the science he was conducting, peeking around his work. He was like that, the others knew that, therefor Tahu had arranged a rule that no one was allowed to disturb the Ko-Matoran when he was working except when there was an emergence of the utmost importance. Dazbog plugged in a cord that led to a computer screen facing in the Matoran's direction. Thus the android could not witness the data being displayed on it.

"Good, Kolhie. Bring up ship error data, please."

Kolhie started uploading the data through the connection cord, "Ship error data uploaded, sir."

"I see. Now the reason for this my friend is due to the concern regarding the supposed errors which occurred in your system."

"Well sir, I was under the impression that my system is errorproof," Kolhie responded, softly and calmly.

"Well my friend, it is. It sure is," Kolhie's creator informed, "No errors were found as I suspected. It was just an error in communication and the ships central computer."

"Am I allowed to go then, sir? It would be rather pointless keeping me here."

"When we are born, we cry we are come to this great stage of fools. You remember that quote don't you Kolhie?" Dazbog suddenly asked.

The android replied immediately, his processing power allowing him to think quickly, "Of course I do sir. Quite brilliant."

"And have you read all those ancient books I gave you. There's a lot you're able to learn from them, something most people don't tend to realize."

"Yes. I've read all of them, sir. I enjoyed them quite thoroughly."

Dazbog smiled slightly. The old Ko-Matoran was glad his creation was gaining more knowledge as time went on, becoming stronger and smarter until he would finally reach a peak where he will become something else. Something more.

"Analysis. How far are we with Protocol 7?" the Ko-Matoran suddenly asked firmly.

"Analysis Protocol 7: First Stage Initiated."

"Good. Everything is going perfectly well. Update. Open chest cabinet," Dazbog continued in his now rather cold voice, the sound slightly echoing in the room, yet unable to be heard outside of it.

The android's chest opened, revealing his power core and some wires. Dazbog picked up a small, black disk from one of his workbenches.

The Ko-Matoran scientist pulled Kolhie's current power core out. A quiet alarm went off. The Matoran took the black disk and installed in the synthetic's chest. He twisted it, locking it in place. The alarm stopped. The outer ring of the disk started to give off a green hue. Kolhie was back online.

"Can I ask you something?"

The Toa of Stone, Proxx, was bored. Bored out of his mind. Still one month to go. One month of nothingness and boredom. That was all. The only thing he hoped for was that they actually find some sort of planet at the source of this beacon. If the beacon even existed and not some stupid astronomer, like Tiara had been, had made some stupid mistake. Yes he didn't formulate this on his own, he had thought about it but it never really came to mind that this could be the case. Until that stupid, and honestly quite useless and annoying, android had filled his mind with the ideas. The ideas of what would happen if it turned out that there was no beacon. Second thought about the mission. Was the android even capable of such thought? Proxx did not know, nor did he care, he was bored right now. But bored wasn't the only thing he was, he was annoyed.

While Proxx was sitting at the table, alone because the other crew members had left for their rooms, such unsocial beings, the android had approached him and started feeding him ideas and asking questions. How annoying. How annoying indeed.

"Yeah, what? Am I sitting on your recharge-chair or somethin'?" Proxx responded to Kolhie's question to ask a question, annoyance clearly resonant in his voice.

"You are not very fond of me are you, sir?" the android asked, a slight smile, giving off an uncomfortable vibe to Proxx, appeared on his synthetic face.

"What gave you that impression?"

The slight smile was sort of creeping the Toa of Stone out, it was unnatural, although it didn't appear so. Why Dazbog gave the android the ability to mimic emotional responses was beyond him. There is no way this was comforting or friendly looking.

"Your responses to my suggestions as well to my questions were giving off the feeling of discomfort and a bit of anger and despise. I can read micro-expressions on your face, the different tones of your voice, your perspiration levels and other things like that. They all give off different sorts of information about your feelings towards something. It is in my programming I'm afraid. Unable to turn off," Kolhie informed the Toa sitting in front of him, "Now, why is it you despise me so much that you probably wished I wasn't on the mission at all? Is it because I am a synthesized life form? Now let me remind you that you are as well. We are in a way the same, although me being less sentient than you and your friends."

"That's exactly it!" Proxx clapped his hands, "Bravo, you guessed it. You aren't conscious. You don't possess consciousness as we do, that's exactly what creeps me out. You aren't a person. You get it? You aren't as real as us."

Kolhie chuckled and smiled, "Yes, of course. I know you are superior to me. But why is it you people made me this way?"

Proxx leaned over the table, stretching forward, "Well maybe it's because your creator was scared of creating somethin' that could easily kill him if it felt superior, ever thought about that? Or maybe you just thinkin' about this too much alright. I'll leave it be. Now can you please leave me to my privacy?"

"Yes of course, sir. I'll leave you to it then," Kolhie quietly left the room, pondering about what Proxx had said. He was right, although it felt like he could do so much more than everyone seemed to think. The android let it slide and returned to the ship's bridge, where captain Magnara was.

Magnara was tall, strong yet he also was gentle and kind. Most of all, he was smart. Kolhie liked him, the male Vortixx was never angry or dismissive at him, he respected the android for what he was, and thus Kolhie respected him. Respect, something that was hard to come by these days. Magnara was not only the captain of this vessel, he was its creator. Kolhie admired people like him and his own creator Dazbog. Maybe that's why Tahu seeks the Great Beings. He admires them and wants his own presence to be known. He wants to be seen. Kolhie returned to his seat, checking the ships data as well as incoming transmissions and signals. Growing more and more intrigued in the mystery, the synthetic checked all data they had on the beacon. What is it?

Tahu made his way to the ship's rather large bridge, enveloped in faint blue light. The design was masterful, Magnara had really known what he was doing. If it wasn't for him, this mission would have never even been able to take place.

"So, everything looking good, Magnara?" Tahu asked, standing next to the tall Vortixx.

"So far," the Vortixx replied, "Ship's still on autopilot, once we're in close proximity to the beacon I'll take over. It appears though that there's an asteroid field a couple of hours ahead. Could you brief the rest of the crew to get ready? Getting through there won't be easy."

Tahu gazed at the monitor, deep in thought and memories. "Alright, isn't there any way we could get around it?"

"No there isn't. Not without sacrificing some of our precious fuel and coolant. And with the breach we had in one of the tanks we don't have enough to risk such a feat."

"But this is taking a risk as well. The ship could get damaged."

Tahu had a point. Magnara had to admit that. "Yes, but still, going through the asteroid field is the least worst option. Unless you don't want to return home, commander."

"I-I want to return home, you know that. Everyone does, but this mission is important as well. We'll take the least worst of the bunch then. I'll go brief the crew, make sure you'll be able to get us out of there alive, Magnara. Otherwise this is on you," Tahu firmly stated. He didn't want his authority challenged, nor did he want to die before they even gained some answers. Answers, that was something they didn't have, yet it is what Tahu wanted the most. The only thing he hoped for was that they would be able to find any. Kolhie was right. Tahu hated it, but he was right. For all they knew, this mission was pointless. The Toa of Fire walked off the bridge into the long, sleek hallway. Time to get the crew ready.

"Now I think we ought to discuss this thoroughly, I mean I didn't come here for nothing."

Gerack, the only Steltian onboard and Hylena, a Ga-Matoran Lab Worker were sitting at a table in the Map Room. They were just talking and discussing things of minor importance, although Gerack probably though otherwise about some topics, like the one he was talking about now. The two of them had become good friends in the years they had trained together. The training had been hard and challenging, sometimes even terrifying but then again nothing was more awe-inspiring than this. Being in space, seeing worlds from the Gods' eyes.

Hylena's purpose on the mission was simple, investigation of unknown found specimens and matter. She loved working in labs, she loved her job. Hylena had been a Lab Worker for as long as she could remember back on the island of Artakha. Her home island. She still missed that place, she admitted that fully but then again, times change, life changes, as long as you can keep whoever you are from changing into something worse. That's why Hylena liked Gerack. He had changed from a petty criminal to someone who has helped others in need. From criminal to what some may consider to be a hero. What a change.

"I really think we should talk about the bonus situation, you know?"

"Right," Hylena responded, not really listening to what he was saying. The Steltian had been bragging about this for a couple of minutes now. Eventually Hylena stopped listening and was just going through her thoughts. She had to admit that she really, really missed her fellow Matoran friends and that going on this mission, however fun or exciting it may be, maybe hadn't been the best idea, what this just meant was that she'd actually rather stayed home on Spherus Magna with her friends. Now she was here, alone, although with a friend, surrounded by metal and then nothing. Nothing for mios.

"You know it's just, I went on this mission to go on an adventure and all but I still think that once this is over and we're back on Spherus Magna that we deserve a bonus for our services, you know. The bonus situation. A couple of good widgets and I'll be satisfied. But it has to be enough of course, don't want my widgets running dry as soon as I enter a market place, you know. What do you think about the bonus situation Hylena? Because no one here ain't talked about it yet, so there has to be someone else who also wants to talk about the bonus situation, right."

"Right," the rather small Ga-Matoran said absently, still lost in thought, thoughts of home, memories, thoughts of the dangers of this mission.

"But what do you think about it?" the Steltian asked, still thinking this was a worthy subject to spent time on.

Hylena looked up, "Well I think if we work hard, do our job and follow orders when ordered to, we'll probably receive a bonus. But if you aren't certain about it, you could always inform Tahu of the situation. Just to ensure the bonus."

"Great idea my little Matoran friend, I'll go talk to him immediately about our current situation," Gerack was interrupted as he was about to stand up by the echoing voice of Tahu coming from the speakers all over the ship.

"All members of the crew, I repeat, all members of the crew, gather on the ship's bridge for briefing. I repeat: gather on the bridge for briefing."

"Looks like we gotta go," Hylena smiled at Gerack, she and her Steltian friend made their way to the bridge, where Tahu, Proxx, Magnara, Kolhie, Cian and Dazbog already had gathered.

Konles, the Ko-Matoran scientist was deeply annoyed by his female companion walking next to him. The Toa of Water had always been annoying, Konles had already developed some form of hatred for her and her attitude during mission training. Not only could she never stop talking, she always seemed to think she knew everything better than him which wasn't the case at all.

Why Tahu even allowed her to go on this important mission with them was beyond him. She should be banned from going on missions like this. How in the name of the great Mata Nui did she even become a Toa in the first place? What was she useful for? Distracting and annoying the enemies, being used as target practice? What was her use exactly? Was she even useful to begin with?

Konles had mostly been a peaceful villager back on Mata Nui. He loved the cold and the quiet. The peaceful feeling of being alone. That was something he didn't feel right now, now he felt like being crushed with a rock by a Toa of Stone. Tiara had been bragging about her recent adventures as Toa. Why she chose to tell him this, of all people, was a mystery. Not that it was a very intriguing mystery for that matter, Konles would've rather preferred that the annoying female just kept her mouth shut for the remainder of the mission or just started bragging to someone other than him.

She wasn't too fond of him either so why was she talking to him again? Or didn't she have any friends here onboard? Did she even have friends? That seemed statistically unlikely from what Konles had already experienced. No, the thing that was mostly on his mind right now was why Tahu had called everyone to the bridge for briefing. Was something going on? Probably. But what?

"They're all jealous of me. Because Tahu chose me to go on this mission instead of them. You should've seen the look on their faces when they found out, that was just so priceless. I had never laughed so hard in my life," Tiara continued her, what seemed eternal, life-story. The Toa of Water seemed to be rather excited about telling others every little thing she had done. A gigantic ego was most likely the explanation for that.

The two remaining members of the Gaea crew arrived on the bridge. The blue light creating an otherworldly atmosphere, as if they were inside some sort of dimensional pocket.

"Good, now that we're all here, let me tell you about our current situation," Tahu began the briefing, "In about an hour and 33 minutes we will have to pass through an asteroid belt. We can't go around it without wasting too much fuel so we'll have to take the risk. I want all of you set at your stations fully suited and ready for the worst. Passing through it has been calculated to about forty minutes. Anything can happen during that time. Gerack and Cian, you will be at the ready to repair any internal damage that may occur, Dazbog and Kolhie you will monitor everything that happens outside and inside the ship, Proxx, Hylena, Konles and Tiara you make sure to use the defense mechanisms when ready and be on guard. Magnara will obviously pilot the ship and I will guide all of you from here. Let's go people, get inside your suits and get to your stations, we got work to do. Remember if one of you fails, the mission fails. Now get moving," Tahu commanded the crew firmly. He really was quite the leader and planner, but that was because he knew the stakes and the dangers. He knew what had to be done, and he was here to make sure that nothing went wrong.

The crew signaled the Toa of Fire that they had understood his commands and their tasks. They all made their way to the Air-Lock where all the suits were located.

They all put on their body suit. Clicking everything in place. They strapped their boots tight and twisted the top rings until they were closed. They put on their gloves, screwing them tightly in place. Everyone plated their suit with the necessary armor, completing the suit. The helmets were removed from their places at the Air-Lock and donned by the crew. Air hissed. Alarms echoed in the helmets. Everyone checked their coms. The crew was ready.

Space. The forms of small grey, brownish rocks could be seen. The small white dot, the white bacteria, made its way closer and closer to them.

As it got closer, the rocks grew bigger. The asteroid field was coming closer and closer. No turning back now. No escape. The beast was coming.

Closer and closer. Closer they got. Bigger and bigger the asteroids became. It seemed endless. One little fault and everyone could die. A huge weight was on Magnara's shoulders. If the weight had been real, physical, the Vortixx captain would have broken everything in his body, he would have succumbed to it. But there was no turning back now. It was the moment of truth. A moment Magnara would claim.

The Vortixx steered violently in order to avoid some of the asteroids that were floating in front of them. Even though the captain steered as if he was about to die, in reality the ship floated beautifully and gracefully between the gigantic asteroids.

The all-seeing eye.

If one looked closely, the ships movements gave off the appearance of dancing. Graceful, controlled, easy. But inside the ship, for Magnara and the crew, this was none of those things. Alarms went off violently. Everything was shaking due to the movement and the artificial gravity that was constantly being created by the rotating midsection of the ship.

Some of the asteroids scratched the ships surface, alarms went off everything was shaking. Konles and Hylena used some of the defense mechanisms, such as the power dispersers, violent weapons of mass destruction being used to defend and destroy. Hunters they were and like hunters they destroyed. But this wasn't enough. Defenses drew power and it was only a matter of time until that power was drained. Time, always the most important factor. Unbeatable. Time never stops.

Tiara couldn't keep her eyes open. The ability to see became worrisome during this stressful moment. How long was this going to take? Forty minutes wasn't it? It seemed endless, like they were being suffocated and buried with giant rocks. She knew Tahu needed their assistance when necessary but she couldn't help it. She was drifting off. Floating in a void of endless time and endless space. There was nothing here but her. Where was she?

Suddenly sound echoed in the void. She couldn't help but wonder what it was. She floated towards its origin, although this seemed so far away. Then she fell. She screamed but nothing happened, not even a sound originated from her mouth. She kept falling and falling, it seemed so endless. Then there was darkness, not like the kind that there had been before, this darkness was so dark no one would be able to see, not even and Onu-Matoran or Toa of Earth, or a Ruru wearer for that matter.

She opened her eyes and was able to see. She stared at bodies, hundreds of them, laying in the mud of a long lost battlefield. They all seemed familiar yet only one was instantly recognizable. It was the body they had found floating in space. What was it doing here? Where in the name of the Great Spirit was she?

The body moved, the rest stayed still. It crawled up on other bodies, facing her directly. Tiara couldn't move, she was frozen. She was terrified, what was happening?

The body crawled towards her, looking her in the eyes with its black eyeholes. "Can you see?"

The voice echoed through her thoughts. She had never been as terrified and confused as this. Was she dead? Was everyone dead? Was this what it is like? To die, being dead? Hell had come for her and now she was a devil.

"What do you mean?!" Tiara shouted. The body didn't even flinch. The Toa of Water was about to enter a state of shock. If one is in this state, not only are they unable to talk and think properly, they can also transform into the most dangerous creatures. Shock is hell for those who experience it as well as those who are in the proximity of the attack.

"Can you see? Look around you. See what has happened. Feel your mind going, just as mine once did."

Tiara was now standing in a desert. A desert where the only thing to be seen was sand. Sand. Dry and thirst inducing sand. The sand and the dunes moved. Or was it a trick? A trick of the eye? What was really happening?

Then she started to sink. The sand enveloped her body slowly. Slowly she started to disappear. She tried to struggle but to no avail. Nothing could save her here in this nightmare.

The sand ran down her body, she was choking. She was choking on the sand. She couldn't breathe. She tried to, but she couldn't. Slowly her vision turned to black.

She could see nothing, feel nothing. All she could do was hear. She heard the sound of waves. The sea. Beautiful memories floated in her mind. But also memories of tragedy. She heard screams. Blood curdling screams. Screams that would make you run for your life.

Then she could feel again. She felt something wet, splashing over her feet. The she could see once more, she saw red. Red and the blackness of the void below. Blood. Blood splashed her feet. Blood washed over her. When she opened her eyes again she was somewhere entirely new.

The Toa of Water looked around her. It all seemed so familiar. The tall buildings, destroyed though they were, obscuring parts of the sky, giving off the aura of imprisonment.

Was she back home? Had all been a distant dream only to awaken in the nightmare? A lone Toa made his way towards her. She ran towards him and fell in his embrace.

"It's alright. Everything's gonna be alright," the unknown Toa said, holding her close, "Tiara? Tiara wake up!"

"Tiara? Tiara?" the Toa of Water snapped awake. She was back on the Gaea. They seemed to have passed through the asteroid field. Hylena had been calling her name.

"Thank Mata Nui! She's awake." Tahu said, worried yet relieved.

"What happened?" the Toa of Water asked groggily, her head hurting like it was about to explode.

"You were in a state of shock, I'm afraid. Lucky for you I'm aboard this ship," Hylena explained. The Ga-Matoran was a Lab Worker yes, but she had always been a pretty good physician as well, "Now I want you to remain calm. This isn't healthy in any way, you know."

"Okay, I'm going outside," Tahu suddenly informed, "Someone has to repair the damage to the receiver-dish. Dazbog, Cian and Gerack are already busy and you guys have your hands full as well."

"Did we sustain a lot of damage?" Tiara asked, confused and still a bit dazzled by her weird dream or vision, whatever you want to call it.

"There's some damage in the hull and our antenna has been damaged severely. But, we made it through the asteroid belt nonetheless. So that's a plus," Tahu explained to his fellow crew member. The Toa of Fire donned his space suit. Slowly he put it on piece by piece, clicking everything in place. Tahu attached his helmet and proceeded by going in the direction of the airlock.

"Maybe take Kolhie with you or something? Wouldn't that be the better option?" Hylena asked, concerned for the Toa of Fire.

"Kolhie will guide me from here. There's nothing to worry about Hylena, death comes to us all eventually."

The Ga-Matoran did not consider that comment to be funny or amusing in any way, nor was it comforting. The ships commander stepped towards the airlock.

"Good Kolhie open the inner hatch for me please."

"Hatch opened, sir," the androids calm voice entering Tahu's ears through the suits helmet. The gateway opened and Tahu slowly made his way inside.

"Close airlock and depressurize, time to step outside and get some fresh air," the Toa jokingly said to his android companion. Some light in the darkness was always needed, although the synthetic probably didn't get what the Toa of Fire had just joked about. Kolhie did as his commander instructed and depressurized the chamber. Damp flew everywhere and then the outer hatch opened. All sound disappeared. The only thing Tahu could hear was his breathing and the muffled frequencies of the things he touched. A weird feeling came over him, this was strange and new. Was he scared? Of course he was, who wouldn't be. But this was a job he and him alone would do, he won't risk anyone else's lives just to repair a receiver, though much needed it was. He felt responsible for the others, he was the one who made them go on this dangerous mission, so he wasn't the one who would put their lives at risk.

The ship was still moving, stopping was no option. Even if they killed the engines, the ship would still move through the fabric of space with easy, there was no air resistance or anything of that matter out here. There was just nothing. And to bring the ship to a halt, just to repair the receiver was a waste of fuel and coolant. They needed those two factors badly, without them they could never return home, or maybe not even make it to the beacon at all.

"I am outside and now making my way to the receiver," Tahu's voice sounding muffled inside the helmet. If one looked at him now, it would seem as if the Toa of Fire had lost his mind and started talking to himself. This wasn't the case however, as he was talking to the android guiding him from within the ship.

Space was cold, there were no near stars in sight. Tahu was surrounded by darkness. He could see the stars so far far away. Nebula glowing beautifully in the distance, so large they were that it appeared as if he could touch tham, but a trick of the eye this was, just a trick of the eye.

The all-seeing eye.

The white dot moved further through space, navigating to the signal of a beacon they could no longer receive. Tahu had to hurry, he didn't want Magnara to go the wrong way, or take a detour. Now in space there are no roads, yet there are still millions of paths. All they had to do, was find the shortest one.

The Toa of Fire climbed out of the airlock, the muffled sounds were heard in the silence. But only Tahu could hear them, only Tahu could hear the things he touched.

Tahu wouldn't admit it to the others, but he was scared of what could happen while he was out here. If his suit, that was protecting him from the cold vacuum of space, failed, however small, he would be dead. Contrary to popular believe, one would not instantly freeze in space. One would first suffocate and one's blood would start to boil. If Tahu's helmet were off right now, his head would succumb to the massive pressure, maybe it would even explode. The most painful of deaths, that is what could happen out here.

The Toa Nuva, although not being in his Nuva form anymore, slowly but surely climbed the ladder upwards. The ladder was positioned right next to the airlock. Tahu had to admit, Magnara was one smart Vortixx. Tahu had never really been that fond of their race, but this guy, he was something else entirely. More importantly, he had become Tahu's friend, you could even say his only real friend on board. Sure the android was nice to him, but he didn't count, he was an android without feelings. Or rather should be.

It was hard to move in the suit, not only that but the pressure was tiring. The ship was moving at extremely high speeds as well, although the Toa had attached himself to a cable inside the airlock, so if he drifted off, Kolhie could just reel him back inside. On the top of the ladder Tahu found himself atop the ship. He could see the rotating half of the ship, spinning and spinning. No damage had occurred there thankfully. The spinning made him think of something, although he quickly brushed it off. There was no time for that now.

Tahu reached the receiver. It was a large, round dish about seven bio wide. Big enough to receive the beacon and incoming transmissions.

All sound disappeared. His breathing seemed to stop. Tahu looked around. An image flashed in his face, startling him. Flashes, images flashing. Silence. Flash. Image. Silence. What was happening?

"Tahu."

Someone whispered in his ear. He turned to look, but there was no one there. Images flashed din his face. He started to recognize them. Flash. Kopaka. Flash. Pohatu. Flash. Lewa. Flash. Gali. Flash. Onua. They were his teammates. Why was he seeing this? How? Was he going mad?

"Tahu?"

The Toa of Fire was sucked back to reality. Muffled sound returned to normal. Kolhie was calling his name. The android was probably wondering what took so long. Now probably some were wondering why Tahu didn't just send the android outside to do the job. Truth. The truth was that Tahu didn't fully trust the android. A bit hypocritical someone might say, as the Toa entrusted the android with his life, but it wasn't that. There was just something about the synthetic being that gave off a worrisome vibe. Tahu didn't know what to think of it, maybe he was just being paranoid. But just something about Kolhie put him off. Placing what exactly that was, well, that was something to worry about later.

"Yes, I'm here. I'm opening the power cabinet now to see what damage occurred," the Toa od Fire responded. He was breathing heavily.

"Is the dish intact?"

Tahu checked the surface of the receiver dish, there appeared to be no damage, "No damage found, Kolhie."

Tahu opened the panel beneath the dish. The panel was almost completely broken. A small piece of an asteroid had hit this part of the dish. The damage seemed greater than anticipated.

"I am removing the broken Power Data Pack and panel. Everything appears to be broken. I will assess the damage to the inner wiring. Let's see. Limited damage, should be an easy fix although it will take a few minutes."

"Alright Commander, we're counting on you. I can't seem to read the damage on my screen here, so you're on your own," Kolhie informed.

"Copy that."

The commander placed the damaged parts in his backpack's storage compartment. He soldered the wires back in place and installed the new Data Cell. Tahu was breathing heavily. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breath out.

"New data cell installed."

Tahu took his welding tool and spare plates. He placed one of the plates on the crack in the hull near the receiver and welded it to the ships body. Then he took the next plate, covering up another part of the crack.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Flash. Image. Flash. Image. Flash. Kopaka. Flash. Pohatu. Flash. Lewa. Flash.

He took the next plate and did the same as with the others. Again and again and again. The crack was sealed, but to be sure Tahu took a pin firing tool and shot the plates against the hull, making sure that they stayed in place. He scanned the plating, looking for holes or cracks. None were found. The breach had been sealed. He checked if the receiver was in working condition. It appeared so. The Toa of Fire took the spare sealing panel and installed it in place. His work was done here.

"It's done. Is everything working on your side?"

"Yes the receiver seems to be working, commander. Everything looking good on my board. You can come back inside if you want," the android's voice entering Tahu's senses through his helmet.

The Toa slowly but steadily made his way back to the airlock. He was holding tight to the grip handles that were installed to the outside of the ship's hull. Tahu climbed down the ladder and stepped back inside the airlock.

"Close airlock, Kolhie and depressurize."

The airlock's doors closed, air hissed everywhere. Tahu was enveloped in damp. The doors behind him opened, he was back inside the ship.

Errors Detected. Error Log: Entry 2: Second error has occurred. Error Data: Hull breach in Pressure Chamber. Error Log: Entry 3: Third error has occurred. Error Data: Destruction of Signal Receiver Data Cell. Errors Saved in Database.

"Welcome back, commander," Kolhie said as Tahu, now out of his space suit, entered the ship's bridge.

"So how's the receiver?"

"Well, the system has to reboot. So it will take some time until we are able to receive the beacon's signal again. Until then we're flying blind. Focusing on previous calculations of the beacon's location of course but none are exactly accurate. The closer we get to the beacon the more accurate the calculations of the source become," Kolhie explained to his commander.

"Alright, how long till the system's rebooted?" Tahu didn't like this, if it took too long they could possibly go in a wrong direction or worse yet, approach another asteroid field without even knowing that it was there, possibly causing more damage to the ship.

"About three hours, I'd say. Could be longer, could be a little bit shorter, you never know."

Tahu approached the central microphone on the edge of the bridge. He plugged in the cord for the Pressure Chamber and pressed the button. "Dazbog, how's it going with the hull breach?"

Tahu released his button, so that Dazbog could speak. Static was heard, then the Matoran's very clear voice came through. "We've repaired all the damage. Ship should still be able to enter an atmosphere. Everything is looking good here on my side, it should be done."

Tahu pressed the button again, "Good. In about three hours we will be able to receive incoming signals again. Consider yourselves dismissed. Tahu out."

Plugging in the main cord and pressing the microphone's button again, Tahu was able to speak for the whole ship. "Attention crew. This is commander Tahu. In about three hours we will be able to receive incoming signals again. Until then or further notice consider yourselves on a break, free of tasks. I want everyone on the bridge in three hours. Tahu out."

The music was soft, beautiful and soothing. It relaxed him, like nothing was of a worrying matter, there were no worries. There was only the ship and only the music. Magnara had to admit, the android had a good taste.

What the Vortixx was wondering though was how Kolhie even acquired this. He probably received it from Dazbog but still. How did he come by it. This was a particular piece which Magnara didn't recognize. He loved music. He had always loved music, but some of the instruments on here weren't recognizable at all. This struck the Vortixx as odd, but he decided to let it slide.

Magnara loved the view of space, even if it was just through the monitors that he was able to see it. The shutters were still closed for incoming sunlight so that the crew or the insides of the ship wouldn't burn up if they got too close to a still burning star.

Something that Magnara was proud of and a bit impressed by was his own ability to have navigated so well through the asteroid belt from earlier. If it had been up to the ship's computer and autopilot, the ship would've been in a condition much much worse than now. Luckily the Vortixx had built the ship to withstand serious damage. Something a space ship really should need in his book.

But this wasn't the only thing he was thinking about. He was also thinking off some of the possible outcomes of this mission and the tolls it will have on its people. It already had seemed to take some sort of toll on Tiara as she had fainted during his maneuvers. What he was also wondering was something along the lines of: is the beacon even real and who even in the name of the great Mata Nui had send it? Where they the Great Beings? Magnara highly doubted it. But if it wasn't them, then who did send it? Who wanted them to come there, wherever there was? What was the meaning of all of this? What was the meaning of this mission?

The search for meaning was always something that had driven Magnara. Even back home on Xia, enslaved by the vicious terror group comprised of only female Vortixx, 'The Black Florem', the only thing that kept him going was his believe that everything that had happened was for a reason. There was meaning to this life and one day, whatever that day may be and whatever the meaning entails, he would find it. He would find his life's meaning, his purpose, Mata Nui's plan for him.

But with Mata Nui and everything he represented now destroyed, Magnara wasn't so sure if life really had any meaning at all.

Kolhie was trying to make the boot up of the receiver go by faster but to no avail. The android had put on some of his favorite music to relax him. He loved listening to it. This piece in particular made all the trouble go away. It was like waves, slowly going from one way to the other, slowly getting bigger and bigger and more impressive.

Was he wrong or right? That was what he had been pondering about for the past hour or so. Had he been right about the beacon? Was there no beacon at all? Had it just been an interference of the asteroid belt or something else? Kolhie wondered how they even decided to go on a mission like this with so little evidence. Were they really this desperate? Or was it something else? Was there another, much more secret, reason for this mission? Was it all a scam?

Thoughts, thoughts, so many thoughts. Questions, questions, so many questions. So many questions and thoughts, yet so little answers. No answers. No data. He felt lost.

Second thoughts about the mission, everyone but Tahu seemed to have them, although the Toa of Fire didn't realize it. Why did they come here? Did they come here to die?

"You alright?" the voice of Tahu startled Tiara a bit. She was lying in a bed. Hylena had taken her to the med bay after her little accident about an hour ago. The Toa of Water had passed out but unbeknownst to Tahu she had seen something rather disturbing and worrying. What was her vision about? She could only hope to receive an answer to her unanswered questions, the same thing we all look for.

The young Toa of Water turned towards her commander, who had seated beside her. She smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'm doing okay, I guess."

"What happened back there? Everyone's a bit concerned about you at the moment I must admit."

Tiara scoffed a bit, she chuckled slightly. "Even Konles? I highly doubt that."

"Well, that I do not know," Tahu replied smiling, laughing a bit even. Then his voice returned to his normal, more serious manner, "You sure you're alright? You look kind of worried. You're not nervous because I'm questioning you right?"

"No, it's-it's not that," the Toa of Water spoke softly. Her lying in that bed made her seem very innocent, too innocent to go on this mission, "I'm just-just thinking about everyone back home. What they're going through."

"You're thinking of your friends," Tahu responded, his voice sounding so soft it almost seemed as if he was whispering, "I think of my friends too."

Tahu's voice was cracking a bit. It seemed as if he was worried about them, even as if he wanted to go back home and leave the mission behind, just for them.

"You miss them don't you?" the former Astrologer asked, her voice soothing. She took Tahu's hand with her smaller one. She reminded him of Gali for some reason. He missed his sister, he missed his team. The only friends he ever had.

"What happened back on Spherus Magna, Tahu?" Tiara softly asked the Fire Toa. It was clear something was bothering him emotionally, something was weighing heavily on him.

"What do you mean?" Tahu's cracking voice made her heart skip a beat. He seemed so lost. "I-I don't know what you mean."

Images flashed in front of him. The images of his friends, the images of those who he had witnessed dying, the images of the dead.

"What happened those years before we left?"

"Well, huh, Kopaka and Pohatu disappeared, as well as Lewa," the red armored being began, his voice still cracking from emotion, his sight still fixated on that one spot located on the floor, "We didn't know what happened to them, we didn't know what was going on, they were just gone. Sometime later we found bits and pieces of armor and flesh that we could only conclude were the remains of Lewa. Oh, how I miss that green bastard…"

His voice seemed to tear apart. Tiara gave him a comforting look but he didn't lock eyes with her, instead he kept staring at the ground, his breaths sounding rough and hard.

"We never found any trace of Kopaka and Pohatu. They were just gone and they never came back. They never came back. You know the Great Beings gave us the greatest gift of all, yet the universe takes it away whenever it pleases. Everything seems so unfair, everything seems so distant yet it's right in front of me. All I can think about are those horrible dreams. I-I can't do this anymore. I can't…I'm lost…I'm lost and I don't know what to do…"

A few tears rolled down his red Kanohi Hau. Slowly the watery drops rolled downwards, until they fell to the ground, splashing without sound.

Silence filled the room, then it was broken. Broken by Tahu's sobbing. He tried to keep it together but his emotions got the better of him, they had consumed the moment, they had consumed his previously shielded mind. Shielded by the mission, a shield that didn't hold up very long.

Tiara hugged the much bigger Toa of Fire. She put her arms around him, trying to comfort him.

"Just let it out. I promise you'll feel much better after. I understand, Tahu. I totally understand, and it's fine, it's alright. Everything will be alright," she whispered in his ear. It seemed as if he paid no attention to her but he did. He heard everything she said.

After what seemed a long moment of silence and comfort, Tahu looked up. He looked her right in the eyes, her bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry, Tiara. I-I don't know what happened, I got carried-"

"It's okay," she replied, if one were to be in the corner on the opposite side of the room, one would not be able to have made out what she had said, "I cry sometimes too. I probably don't seem like the type but-well, everyone needs their emotional outburst sometimes, right. Why despite everything that happened did you leave then? Why did you leave Onua and Gali?"

"You like asking this don't you?" Tahu was still a bit dazed by his emotions, but despite that he cracked a small smile at her.

"I'm just the curious type, I guess."

"I left because I had to. I couldn't stay there anymore, I was worn down by the loss of my friends, the random killings happening, me not being able to find any sign of the Great Beings. I was lost in a place of sadness, rage and confusion. There was no more place for me on Spherus Magna. I knew that, Gali knew it too. Ackar was one more person who knew about my state of mind. He understood me the most. He was the first to support this-this mission we're currently on. All I can hope now is that it was worth it." Tahu started seeing flashes again. Bright white light. A star in the palm of his hand, a black flower in the other. The he saw someone through the blinding light, as quickly as it had appeared the light disappeared, darkness enveloped both of them now.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the one to guide you. To guide you into the light."

"I-I hope we find something Tahu, for you. If there really is an all-seeing and all-hearing God then I hope he is all-loving. Now that Mata Nui is no more, maybe all we need is a little faith," Tiara's soft-spoken voice turned him back to reality. What was happening to him? He wondered if he could just tell her what was going on, but he realized he couldn't, she seemed very understanding but his inner coward turned against said very idea. He shouldn't entrust anyone with his secrets, not even those he now considered friends.

Tahu was walking in the high grasses of Spherus Magna. The sun was coming up, he had been awake all night. He wasn't walking alone however. The Glatorian, Ackar, and now one of Tahu's closest friends and most respected colleague, was walking besides the commander.

For the umpteenth time a search party had been dispensed to find Kopaka, Pohatu and Lewa. It had been a long time since their disappearance. Many many days had passed since. Many days of grieve, many days of terror. Now only Tahu and Ackar were left, they were the only ones left searching, still searching for a quite possible impossibility. The impossibility of finding them alive.

Spherus Magna's sky was grey and somber. It was as if the world felt what was going on at its surface. Many people had died. There was a killer out there. First Karzahni, then Tren Krom, shortly after Kopaka and Pohatu disappeared like Lewa had. An explosion had killed Helryx, Miserix, Artakha, Axonn, Brutaka, Vezon and an unknown being, only one survived, the traitor and Matoran killer known as Tuyet. Out of all those beings, all those deaths, the worst of them all somehow survived the terror attack that had leveled an entire fortress. But shortly after the last and former member of the Toa Mangai succumbed to her injuries. Some doctors said she had died in her sleep, a merciful death for a monster such as she had been.

Here and there more Toa died, cutting down the already low number of them to an all-time low. Orde, Gelu and Ziara had been found dead as well. Chiara had been found near death, even now, about a month later she was still recovering, still in critical condition.

Tahu had been starting to lose hope. What hope was still left? They had come to this new world and many had sacrificed so much for this but for what? All that had occurred was death and destruction.

Ackar pulled Tahu from his thoughts by gesturing him to stop moving. The Fire Glatorian slowly walked towards a stinking pile of burnt and mangled bodies.

"Mata Nui…" Tahu exclaimed.

"I count at least seven dead," Ackar quietly said, "Did our killer do this?"

"These are all Toa from the looks of it," Tahu told his fellow warrior, the Toa of Fire was wincing at the sight of the massacre, "Could be him. Although this doesn't fit his pattern. This wasn't done by an explosive or a known weapon of any kind. No reminder stone as well."

"Maybe he's changing his M.O.?" Ackar questioned this however.

"Or maybe this is something else, I don't know. When is this nightmare going to end?"

"This is no nightmare Tahu," Ackar said, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Nightmare's end, this however does not."

After a long walk back to New Atero and the giving of a proper burial to the slaughtered Toa, Tahu and Ackar returned to a village empty of life and joy. The only thing that was felt here was fear and anger. Hope seemed absent, clouds were covering the Solis Magna sun.

Gali approached the returning warriors but all she found was them shaking their heads letting her know they found no traces of her brothers. No words had to be said for this. Not many words were spoken anymore on Spherus Magna.

"What took you so long?" she asked, worried she had been for their safety.

"We found more victims of the killer," Tahu informed her regrettably, "We gave them a proper burial. About seven of them Gali. Seven more Toa dead. We can't sustain this, soon all of us will be dead I'm afraid. Only time will tell and right now, time seems to run out."

"You don't have to be so pessimistic Tahu. There's still hope," Gali gave her brother a slight smile.

"I hope you're right," Tahu sighed and turned his attention to his Glatorian companion, "Ackar, I want you to lead a search party for the killer, make sure you're back before nightfall. And take Efil with you. He may be young but he's one hell of a tracker, if anyone can find our killer, it's Efil. Godspeed my friend."

Ackar simply nodded in Tahu's direction, turned around, and went to gather his search party. They had to find this murderer and fast. He had to be stopped. Ackar could only hope for the best and prey the worst wasn't yet to come.

Tahu turned his attention back to his fellow Toa and best friend, Gali, "How are we with the search? Any sign of them?"

Gali immediately knew what her brother was talking about, "No, still not even a peep. Not even after all these months of searching. Aren't you focusing on too much Tahu? Finding the Great Beings is only secondary in my book right now."

"I just want something to set my mind off things. This is my way of doing things. Besides, informing the Great Beings that their planet is restored and once more a paradise is 'necessary' I would dare to say. We own them that much, if not more. All of this. This world, this life, these people, everything is here thanks to them. All I want to do is tell them 'Thank you'."

Gali chuckled, "Now there's a bit more of the Tahu I used to know."

"Used to know? I'm still the same exact person, madam Water Toa," Tahu joked. He had changed, he knew that. Gali knew that too, she was always the first to notice.

"Sure you're going to do a lot more than say 'thanks' right? I can't imagine how many questions I could ask them. Creating life can be a beautiful thing. Just look at the Glatorian and Agori, love as they know it is something we can't even fathom to understand, and they create life. Life created from a powerful bond between two people. I wonder how the Great Beings saw all of this, how they saw life. They played the part of Gods after all."

"First thing tomorrow morning the two of us go on a little quest, we'll search some parts the others haven't looked at. Maybe I'll get you some flowers along the way," Tahu told his friend, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Thanks for lighting up the mood. Glad to see you're back on track towards moments of happiness. Something like that is needed in times like these," Gali said, watching the sun peek through the clouds, "When you're angry or depressed, we all feel that way. People look up to you, they admire you."

"It's not me they should be admiring. It's you."

Gali and Tahu's moment loose from all the sadness and darkness was interrupted by a Matoran running towards the pair of Toa. In rapid pace he approached them and spoke of what he was summoned to tell. "Toa Tahu, you must come with me. Dazbog has found something, sir. Something he thinks you'll want to see."

After the long and heavy day Tahu had, all the he wanted to do was just lie down, rest and put his mind at ease. He opened the door to his hut revealing something unexpected. An unknown Toa was sitting at the table inside. Tahu had never seen him before.

"What is this?" Tahu asked the unknown Toa sitting inside his hut.

The unknown Toa turned his gaze towards Spherus Magna's commanding Toa of Fire and gestured him to sit on the opposing side of the table. "Well, this is the simplest form of communication currently possible, conversation it is called. And that is what we're going to do. We're going to have a conversation."

The Toa of Fire, trying to keep his temper down, started asking more questions to the strange visitor, his voice resonating with menace. "Who are you? What are you doing in my hut? You shouldn't be here."

"Who I am is currently not your concern. It's not something that matters to you, it's not something that matters to anyone. What does matter however is the impending conversation we're about to have at this present location. And whether I should or shan't be here is however a matter of perspective and realization I'm afraid. Realization you currently do not possess nor should."

Tahu took the seat the stranger had offered him and sat down opposing his guest.

"You don't mind if I grab something to regain my energy do you?" the stranger asked, his voice not giving away what exactly his intentions were. He sounded quite friendly. Be that as it may, Tahu still didn't trust him. And he sure as hell wasn't going to fall for any tricks this clown might have up his sleeve.

"No," Tahu firmly said, "No, you sit down. You stay down and you tell me exactly what is going on here."

"Well, there you have it. The fire in the eyes, the burning anger and rage. Yet you are confused, Toa of Fire. You are confused. But I'll tell you what, we stay here nice and calmly like and then we can be damn sure that no one is gonna get hurt," the stranger began, his calm and relaxing voice still able to make Tahu feel uneasy, "Remember that time, about a month ago I think, that two of your fellow Toa went missing? Remember that? They were searching for something right? The killer. The stone-cold killer. The killer who is still out there, terrorizing your people with fear and murder and the smell of blood and ash. A month, for an entire month hope seems lost and then, suddenly, today of all days, a little blink of hope is found. Yet all you do is neglect hope for terror. All of you Toa being on edge makes all these people here feel on edge. This spreads like a forsaken sickness, a plague."

"Are you saying that I should abandon my people for a quest? A quest based on a signal that provides little evidence to what we actually want to find on this quest. You must be joking."

The stranger slammed his hand on the table, tremors went through the wood. Tahu was startled. "No, that's not what I'm saying. You say little evidence has been found in the signal, well I say enough evidence is present. The Great Beings, Tahu. The Great Beings. These guys don't screw around. Not to mention a signal like that is impossible to come from an emitting radiation source. What I'm saying is that the signal is pointed directly at us, which would indicate that the ones that send it know we're here. One conclusion: the Great Beings."

Even though the stranger might be right to some extent, Tahu still neglected what he was proposing, "How do you know all of this? This is all classified information, no one outside of my crew know of this."

"Let's just say I have the right sources. But consider what I've said. The people here are scared, maybe the time for a new leader is in order. If you think said time is here the signal is out there waiting for you. Let's call it a sign from our Great Spirit, Mata Nui," the strange Toa got up and stepped to the door. He took something from inside his armor and threw it on the table, it was a piece of paper from Dazbog, "Oh yes, before I forget, our Ko-Matoran friend has figured out what the signal could mean. It's a distress call."

"Do you have second thoughts about the mission, Tiara?"

The resting Toa of Water looked at her commander, puzzled by his words. "Do you?"

"Yes," Tahu simply replied. Stating the one thing no one on the ship thought was true.

"Then why did you come here?" Tiara asked, worried that they came this far, so many years later, that it had all been for nothing. A waste of time and resources. A waste of people's lives.

"Sometimes a leap of faith is needed, Tiara," Tahu told his fellow Toa, calmly he took her hand, "If it turns out that I made the wrong decision, you will all never be able to forgive me, I know that. But this was…This was all I had left. I had to make a choice and sometimes choices don't turn out for the better, they turn out for the worse. Let's hope this wasn't one of those choices. For your sake, I do hope. And hope is the only thing we can still cling on in times like these. Now you rest, in about two hours, if you're able to stand, I would like you to come to the bridge. We'll be able to tell then if the beacon is real or not."

With that the Toa of Fire loosened his grip on her hand, got up and left the room. Tiara, lying in her bed, realized something was up with him. The commander was emotionally compromised, something her teammates had always warned her about. Now she was starting to feel regret, regret for ever coming along on this mission in the first place. A mission which had been dangling on a thin thread from the very beginning.

"This is just ridiculous."

"What is? What you on about?" Proxx replied to his Ko-Matoran companion, sitting at the table, drinking some fluids.

Konles shook his head, his white noble Hau moving a bit. "Tiara! I'm talking about her you dumb brick of stone! I mean just look at how pathetic that was! She fainted while we were maneuvering in space. If she really has such a faint heart and sense of reality then why did she even come with in the first place? Not only that but she's a gigantic jerk as well."

Proxx, slowly slurping his fluids, turned towards the Ko-Matoran, "Well yeah, she may be a jerk to ya because you're a jerk as well. But the fainting part, yeah, I agree man, sure. What's her purpose on this ship again? She's an astrologer right? Or she was? What we need an astrologer for? We're already in space!"

"Exactly! That's what I've been saying," Konles chuckled a bit, "She has no use on this ship at all!"

"She ain't the only one," Proxx began, bitterness resonating in his rather deep voice, "Kolhie, cough, cough…"

"Why do you have anything against the android? He seems totally fine to me."

"He seems fine to you? He seems freaking fine to you? Have you even looked at that thing man? He looks freaky as hell! Not to mention his personality is more off putting than anything else. I just wish I could jettison that freak into space," Proxx sounded bitter, as if he had a grudge against the android for some odd reason. Konles left it for what it was, no point in arguing over the android who was probably vital to the mission in some capacity.

"So…You thinking we'll find a planet at this supposed beacon?"

Proxx pondered about Konles' question for a few moments, "Well, I dunno man. Maybe a planet, maybe a stupid rock, maybe nothing, maybe cute Rahi for all I care, I have no freakin' idea. All I know is that I sorta wish that I never went on this mission. This crap is giving me the creeps, the isolation of this space crap and then the fact that in a few moments of agonizing pain, the worst pain you'll have ever felt, you could die one of the most horrible deaths to ever be created by our best friend mister creator God if there were to suddenly struck something large and powerful against this ship. That's all I'm saying man, we ain't safe here, we ain't gonna be safe at the beacon, we would've been a lot safer on Spherus Magna if we'd just declined Tahu's offer and went our own merry ways."

"So you believe in a creator all-powerful God then? The creator of the universe?"

"Well, maybe. I dunno, how else did all of this come into existence? Not only that but the fact that we were made by other beings as well and that our known universe where we had lived in for millennia suddenly turned out to be a constructed universe by beings more powerful than us really begs the question of who created them and who created the entirety of the universe, you know."

Konles cracked a slight smile, he had to admit he kind of started to like Proxx. Not only was he funny, but he was easy to talk to as well. Sure he didn't possess that big of a brain but if it made the Ko-Matoran scientist feel superior, then all the better for it. "I think you have a point there. But well then the queries continue onwards and onwards if you were to look closely at what they represent. If a creator God created everything, who created them? And who created their creator and on and on and on."

"This is really starting to hurt my brain now, man. I ain't too good at philosophy, I'm good at geology and fighting bad guys but that's it for me. No more can enter this here brain that's currently in my head."

"But then there's the fact that you agreed to going on this mission with Tahu," Konles jumped to a completely other topic, "Why is that exactly?"

"Because I wanted to see space for reals with my own two eyes maybe? I dunno, I agreed to it because while I liked Spherus Magna, it had nothin' to offer me, nothin' at all," Proxx told the quite arrogant and sometimes annoying Ko-Matoran. The Toa of Stone's hand was up against the chin of his Kanohi Volitak, "I didn't know that it was gonna be like this. But now I gotta deal with my stupid decisions. So be it then, no turnin' back now."

"On my island, in my village, they used to have a story with great moral importance," Konles began, "It's about a Matoran who wanders away from his village because he feels lost. He feels that he isn't loved or respected by anyone, he feels like an outcast. So one night he decides to leave his village and go to the mountains to find some sort of peace.

So about an hour after he left the village a snow storm starts to pick up. He didn't bring any supplies with him or anything because that was something he hadn't thought about, being lost in his anger and self-doubt. The snow storm starts to get heavier and heavier, so heavy that there comes a part where he isn't able to see anything happening in front of him anymore. He was so far far away from the village now that turning back was no option at all. So with the newly found fear of becoming a corpse in the snow he decides to move forward, in the hopes of finding shelter.

For about forty minutes he plows through the heavy snow, everything is hurting. His legs are starting to give in, but still he has the courage to move forward. He had to find shelter. Then out of nowhere he hears a crack through the deafening sounds of the heavy winds. He doesn't know what it is but he finds out shortly after.

He is at the edge of a cliff. And the crack was that edge succumbing to his weight. He doesn't know what to do so he stands still and figures out ways to balance his weight so that he can retreat from the edge. But as he is about to perform his plan, he plumbs down towards obliteration. He falls and he falls. He keeps falling for a long time then he hits the ground. Now normally one would be dead if this happened to them but not this Matoran, no he wasn't dead. He had broken almost everything that was inside of him, he was on the brink of death, but not dead yet.

After what seemed an eternity of blackness, he wakes up. He awakens in a cave next to a fire. He can't move his limbs, he is paralyzed due to his injuries. All he prays for to the Great Spirit Mata Nui is to grand him a swift and painless death. So that he can be in the heavens above and not here in the bowels below.

Then he sees a Matoran, he doesn't recognize him. This Ko-Matoran that he sees is one he had never seen before in the village, yet he seemed familiar in some weird sense.

'Where am I?' he asks the unknown Matoran.

The Matoran comes towards him and grands him a knife.

'You have a choice. Either you kill yourself right now with this blade and go to the heavens above, or you can wait here and have faith someone will find you.'

Now he has no idea what his supposed rescuer was actually talking about, but in a few painful movements with his right arm he takes the blade and just stares at it, unsure of what to do.

'Do you choose death, or do you choose faith?' his rescuer asks him.

He still isn't certain what he does, he would like a swift death. A swift death would be nice, nicer than to crumble and cry in agony in this forsaken dark cave. But the second he tries to kill himself he drops the blade to the cold ground. He can't. He can't do it. He is afraid of death. He isn't even sure if he will be allowed in Mata Nui's kingdom. So he stays. He stays in his pain and his agony and he waits.

His rescuer picks up the blade and says something to him. 'You choose wisely. Death may be the easy way out, but rewarding it is not.'

And with that the Matoran walked away and disappeared, never to be heard from again.

The next morning after hours and hours of pain and doubt, but yet a cling on hope, a few Matoran from his village appear in the cave and rescue him. They had been searching all night and now they had finally found him. He didn't know what was happening but others seemed to care for him. And he seemed to have made the right choice. His choice had mattered, even though it had appeared to be the wrong one at first."

"I don't get it," Proxx simply said.

"You'll get it eventually, I hope."

Hylena entered the room where the Ko-Matoran and Toa of Stone had been chatting. She turned to Konles and spoke what she had come here to say. "Konles, do you have the time to come with me for a second? I'm going to dissect and further investigate the body we found. I could really use your expertise and help. If you're not too busy of course."

"Yeah, sure," Konles replied. The Ko-Matoran jumped out of his chair and turned towards the Ga-Matoran. "Lead the way. Catch you later, Proxx!"

Konles and Hylena made their way to the lab of the ship. Its white interior gave off a really clean look. This was in contrast with the black and grey slimy body that Hylena picked from the cryochamber and laid on the lab table in front of Konles.

The Ko-Matoran was disgusted yet again at the mere sight of the body. Space had done some horrible things to this person or creature or whatever it had been. Konles was just hoping that they'd finally know what it was, learn something from it and finally then they could just dump it in space somewhere and be done with this. Just carrying out the mission like it was supposed to was a card that apparently hadn't been laid on the table, yet.

Hylena took one of the tools from the tool-panel with grace. A tool is only as useful as its master. A tool is only as powerful as its master. The tool she so gracefully took in her rather small, blue, Matoran hands was a small saw. Konles knew what she was about to do. She was going to perform a dissection. He didn't like this, not even a little bit. If the term squeamish had to be described to one member of The Gaia's crew, it had to be described to the small, white and silver little Ko-Matoran known as Konles.

The Ga-Matoran brought the tip of the tool's saw blade to the body, near the stomach area. She pressed a button, making the saw blade move at high speed. She brought it down and it pierced the body's blackish skin from hell.

Some blood splattered around, but not much. Most of its blood was already gone, floating somewhere in space. It had burst out of him, space had mangled this poor soul beyond believe.

"Okay, let's see what we got here," Hylena mumbled to herself. She opened up the beings stomach area and looked inside. "Organs are all messed up. Seems to be a biomechanical being."

Hylena took a few samples from the blood that was left and handed them to Konles, "Here, will you check these for me please. Anything you can find that is out of the ordinary and you shout my name. Got that icy man?"

Konles grumpily took the blood samples and went to his own lab table. He hated this. This gory, messy, fooling around with dead bodies stuff wasn't for him.

Hylena investigated the body further. Its skin seemed to be partly organic, partly armor and partly something else she had never seen before. There were no clues to whoever this might have been. The body was burnt to a hellish black color. She removed some of its messed up organs and checked them each. "Seems to have a natural set of organs. Well natural to our species at least. If you can call us that."

Konles paid no attention. He was still checking the beings blood. He had done this work before when he had to check the blood of every crew member currently on this mission. Except for Kolhie of course, the android had no blood.

Hylena took a skin sample and instead of turning to Konles, she decided to check it herself and not bother the grumpy Ko-Matoran any further.

She sat her table and looked through her microscope at the sample she had just taken. As she zoomed in she noticed something. Something unexpected. As quickly as she could she got out of her chair and ran to the door. "Konles! Konles, freeze the body right now. Freeze it right now!"

She ran through the ships long hallway all the way to the bridge. Her pace was fast, faster than she'd ever run in her life before. She had to speak to Tahu right now. When she got to the bridge, Tahu and Kolhie were checking the incoming signals.

"It's coming through quite well I must say," Kolhie's voice faintly entered Hylena's senses as she almost ran into Tahu, out of breath but much important information to share.

"Commander! Commander," she said, out of breath, "There's something going on with the body…"

"Not now, Hylena. We're finally able to receive again. Kolhie filter out all other incoming signals and play the one we think originates from the beacon. Play it on speakers."

Kolhie did as Tahu asked and played the incoming signal from the beacon. The signal send shivers down the spines of those that did not expect this. The sound reverberated on the bridge. Everyone was silent. Was this really coming from the Great Beings. If not, who did place the beacon? And why?

"Play it again," Tahu commanded, the Toa of Fire wanted to make sure that he correctly heard what he had just listened to.

Kolhie played the incoming signal again. Hylena, spooked by what she had found, was frozen in place. What was this? What was happening?

"It appears that the asteroid field blocked this part of the signal. The asteroids are made of an ore that generates a very powerful and large pulsating magnetic field," Kolhie started to explain, "Giving the amount of them out there, it is safe to assume that because of the field, this part of the signal didn't come through."

"Is this the entire signal?" Tahu asked. Obviously demanding answers. He was beginning to doubt the purpose of the mission. What would happen if this wasn't coming from the Great Beings?

"This is the entire signal," Kolhie informed, checking if what he just said was true, "The signal seems to be on a loop. It could have been out there for years. The ones who set it up could only hope that someone was listening."

"Can you decipher it?" Tahu asked. His tone was demanding.

"Deciphering now," Kolhie pressed a few buttons and let the ships central processor do its job.

"Can I talk to you Tahu?" Hylena asked, tapping the Toa of Fire on the shoulder.

"Can it wait?"

"No, it can't" Hylena said, she was getting annoyed and scared and that was a combination you did not want to happen. Tahu could tell she was getting furious at him.

"Good, spill it out."

Hylena was interrupted again as Kolhie informed Tahu that part of the signal had been decrypted.

"The ships computer has deciphered a small part of it. From the looks of it, the signal appears to be a distress call."

Tahu was taken back to the moment so many years ago when he had heard those exact same words. Words he hadn't believed back then, but now he did. He had no other choice. Back then he believed the beacon to be a beckoning call. Now everything started to make a little more sense.

"The signal is originating from a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant. The beacon is real Tahu. Your dreams have become reality," Kolhie informed his commander. Was the android feeling a bit bitter about this? Maybe. But being an android those feelings were only mimicked ones. Kolhie had no feelings. Or so everyone was told to be more precise.

"The Great Beings, our creators," Tahu whispered.

"Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as clay, and wilt bring me into dust again," Kolhie suddenly said. Confusing his fellow crew members, "It's a quote from a book I like to read. Giving the current situation it only seemed fitting."

Tahu then, finally, turned his attention to the impatient Ga-Matoran, "What is it you wanted to tell me Hylena?"

The Matoran sighed and shuddered, "The body we found. The one near the destroyed Red Star. It's still alive…"

The all-seeing eye.

The darkness of space enveloped the Gaia ship and its crew. Closer and closer they got to their destination. What they'll find there, no one knew. Was it answers? Or more questions? Or was death the only thing that would greet them there on this unknown world?

The questions spiraled through the void. No one there to answer them. One thing was for certain. If God exists and this was his plan, what does that say about the God himself?

Is he only watching through his looking glass? The all-seeing eye. Is everything predetermined or is everything up to chance?

The signal echoed through the void where sound is not heard. Its true meaning still unknown. Its purpose still a total mystery. Yet a group of ten people wasted time to reach this still unknown purpose. What would they find there? What was going to happen? The white dot moved further through space, passing beautiful nebula and other galaxies seen from far away. Their destination was close, like a hiding creature it had revealed itself. It had begun…


End file.
